After Ditto TV, it's 'OZEE' for Zee Digital

Zee Digital Convergence Ltd (ZDCL), the digital arm of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, has launched a new video on demand platform, OZEE. The app highlights enhanced user experience, tempting first time exploration followed by loyal viewing on personal gadget. The name is inspired by the ‘O’, symbolising the circle that encompasses our universe and the entertainment we seek in it – the world of Zee.

As ‘appointment viewing’ sees a paradigm shift, more and more people are choosing to watch content on their personal devices, in their own personal time. So while, OZEE caters to a much larger target audience, the primary focus will be the 18-24 year olds who live by the ‘Apne Pace Ki Zindagi’ and seek ‘Entertainment now’.

With access across all devices and platforms (Android, iOS), viewers can consume OZEE free of cost. OZEE will showcase Zee Network content (shows – Fiction & Non-Fiction, movies, Zee Music and other videos) in different languages like Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla and Kannada. The shelf life of a show on OZEE will be of a lifetime. Some of OZEE’s key features include a superior interactive video viewing experience even over low bandwidth connections across devices, follow this show, timely notifications, and more.

Commenting on the new platform, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said, “In India, entertainment is life. The fact that today people are finding it easy to cut away from appointment viewing and are able to watch their chosen entertainment anytime and anywhere, has only driven consumer expectations higher. The video on demand platform has become the need of the hour and we are excited to bring to our viewers this whole new level of entertainment. OZEE will offer a user friendly platform and the comfort of watching your favourite Zee show/ movie at your convenience. Living in the ‘instant’ era, OZEE will make content available within minutes of its television telecast. With this offering, we hope to conquer the hearts of our viewers as much as we have been doing with our other products.”

Debashish Ghosh, CEO, Zee Digital Convergence, added here, “We believe that OZEE will define the future consumption benchmarks of entertainment content from Zee and deliver an effortless and pleasurable experience to all viewers of on demand content on OZEE, irrespective of location, age group, SEC and comfort with technology platforms. While OZEE will deliver the best entertainment content from Zee, it is also designed to make the viewing experience truly unique and trouble free. We hope the world will love what OZEE has to offer.”

“OZEE is not like any other video on demand platform. We believe we are an all-encompassing social entertainment solution that every individual can leverage. They can seek their special dose of entertainment at their convenience and enjoy, share and celebrate at their own pace,” noted Karan Jaitapkar, Business Head, OZEE.

Key features

• Click and Play: With users becoming more impatient, the app is focused on providing seamless quality entertainment across the world.
• With most of the users still using 2G, OZEE will offer low resolution video to reduce bandwidth consumption.
• It will also have a feature called ‘Follow the show’, where customers can follow their favourite shows and get notifications too.
• The content will be available within 10 minutes of its telecast on TV.

Talking about the key focus areas, Jaitapkar said, “Branding and customer satisfaction is of utmost priority. I don’t want to restrict myself with quantitative targets and rather focus on providing a wow consumer experience. In OTT platform, you don’t have a second chance. If customers are unhappy with the app, they will uninstall your application.”

He maintained that the application was quite diverse from Ditto TV. “Ditto TV follows a subscription model, whereas OZEE is for free. The content is also different. Yes, we do indulge in Native advertising for monetisation, however, it won’t hamper the consumer experience. In OTT, the challenge is medium. GSM and CDMA demand more attention and time,” he added.

Talking about the promotional activities, Jaitapkar said, “We have decided to create a 360-degree approach towards our marketing activities – be it outdoor promotional campaigns, creating a buzz on social media, radio or print. So, it is an integrated marketing plan. Also, our product will cater to every segment. It is for someone who is stuck in traffic or waiting in a lounge, hotel or airport, the idea is to focus on the basics, that is, providing a seamless streaming VOD experience.”

OZEE will launch with the enclosed shows across each channel:

Going forward, OZEE will also showcase exclusive content, be it award shows, movie premieres or concerts; anything and everything to do with entertainment.

OZEE will be competing with OTT platforms such as Hotstar, SonyLiv, and Hooq. With content distribution becoming simpler and easier, the scope is exponential with around a billion mobile phone users in India. With an approximate 402 million users, it is interesting to note that around 60 per cent of Internet users in India access the Internet via their mobile phones, which undoubtedly makes it the next generation of information, entertainment and sports.